PREMIER LEAGUE, FA AND PGMOL ISSUE MAJOR JOINT STATEMENT AHEAD OF ASTON VILLA MATCH

The Premier League, the Football Association and Professional Game Match Officials Ltd have confirmed Villa Park plan

Semi-automated offside technology will be used for the first time in the FA Cup fifth round (Peter Byrne/PA)(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

Semi-automated offside technology will make its debut in English football in seven of the eight FA Cup fifth-round ties.

The technology will be used at all the ties hosted at Premier League stadiums, with the Preston v Burnley tie the one exception. Aston Villa host Cardiff City.

A statement issued on Thursday morning confirmed the Premier League would look to introduce the technology in its competition later in the season.

The Premier League hopes SAOT will reduce the length of offside checks by an average of 31 seconds.

VAR will be used at all eight ties, a joint statement from the Premier League, the Football Association and Professional Game Match Officials Ltd confirmed.

The Premier League has worked with technology provider Genius Sports on the new offside system.

The original plan had been to introduce it in the Premier League after one of last autumn’s international breaks, but those deadlines came and went.

Speaking last week, Premier League chief football officer Tony Scholes said the technology was still on course to be introduced this season.

He said there had been “significant progress” made over the last four to six weeks.

“The system that we’ve adopted, we believe it to be the best system,” he said.

“We believe it to be the most accurate and the most future-proof system as well. I have to confess, given the difficulties that we had over the first few months of the season, I had severe doubts about this but the progress made over the last four to six weeks has been significant.”

Scholes insisted introducing it with potentially only a handful of games to go would not create an integrity issue.

“The operation of semi-automated offside technology does not change the integrity of the offside law and doesn’t change the integrity of decision-making,” he said.

“We have got 100 per cent accuracy (on offside after VAR checks) this season, so it won’t improve the accuracy. What it does is make the process more efficient.”

- James Pallatt and Jamie Gardner PA Chief Sports Reporter

PREMIER LEAGUE SAYS 13 VAR ERRORS SO FAR THIS SEASON, BUT IT IS BETTER THAN LAST

February 5 – There have been 13 video assistant referee (VAR) mistakes in the Premier League so far this season, according to league bosses.

Four incorrect VAR interventions and nine missed interventions from the first 23 rounds of games have been identified.

However, the league says the accuracy of ‘Key Match Incidents’ is at 96.4% – up from 95.7% at the corresponding point last term – and the overall number of errors has gone down from 20.

“Nobody here underestimates the significance and the impact of one single error,” said Premier League chief football officer Tony Scholes.

“We know that one single error can cost clubs. Points and results can cost managers positions, potentially players their place.”

That’s been one of the main bugbears of managers and fans and in response, the league has unveiled a six-point plan aimed at enhancing the accuracy, speed, and transparency of VAR decisions.

A central component of this initiative is the potential introduction of semi-automated offside technology (SAOT) before this season concludes.

Additionally, the Premier League aims to enhance fan engagement by having referees announce VAR decisions within stadiums, a practice that could be implemented by the start of the next season.

Scholes emphasised the importance of this move, noting, “Frankly, it’s not good enough [VAR communication with supporters in stadiums]. None of us here at the league believe it’s good enough, and we have a long way to go to improve it.”

- Andrew Warshaw

BARCELONA COACH FLICK SLAMS WRONG VAR DECISION IN LOSS

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick criticised the "wrong decision" to disallow Robert Lewandowski's goal for offside as his team were beaten 1-0 at Real Sociedad on Sunday in LaLiga.

Lewandowski thought he had opened the scoring at Anoeta in the 14th minute, but semi-automated offside technology (SAOT), introduced in Spain at the start of the season, ruled the striker's toe was marginally ahead of La Real defender Nayef Aguerd's foot.

The hosts went on to win the game through Sheraldo Becker's strike, ending Barça's seven-game winning streak in all competitions as Flick's team failed to find the net in a game for the first time this season.

"It was the wrong decision, clear," Flick told Barça One after the match. "I saw the picture. It's clear, it's clear, but we have to accept it.

"It was not the referee's fault. At the end of the day, we are humans, we make mistakes, and today was a big mistake."

SAOT is not used universally across Europe. Italy's Serie A was the first major league to implement it and there is a desire to introduce it in the Premier League, but its roll out in England has been delayed as testing continues.

Flick was adamant it failed in Lewandowski's goal, airing his thoughts to the referee at half-time, although he played down the idea he had come across as "angry" in the discussion.

Hansi Flick looks on during Barcelona's loss to Real Sociedad, the second league defeat for his team this season. Getty Images

"It was not so angry," he laughed in his post-game news conference. "I said only to him 'It was a goal, it was wrong decision, it was not offside.'

"But it was not his fault. We have to accept it. Until there, with the 1-0 for us, it would be a different match. But at the end, it was different and it was not our day.

"At the end, it's a defeat, but the matches before and after the last break were fantastic. I really appreciate the team and how they are doing."

Barça's second league defeat of the season also came with Lamine Yamal watching from the stands after bruising his ankle in the midweek Champions League victory over Red Star Belgrade.

The 17-year-old, who has six goals and eight assists in 16 appearances this season, did not start the last time Barça lost in LaLiga, either, against Osasuna in September.

"I think it would be an easy answer to say 'OK, we lost because Lamine wasn't there,'" Flick said when asked if it was just a coincidence they have lost both matches the teenager has not started.

"Of course a player like this quality Lamine has, every team will miss it. But at the end, we started good. I think the goal, what I can say it was wrong decision, absolutely, but we have to accept it.

"After the La Real goal we suffered a little bit. I think today was not our day, also in the offence we had not the clear chances to make goals. We made wrong decisions in the last third. We have to accept it today."

Flick added that Barça's and Spain's doctors will now decide whether Yamal joins up with the national team for upcoming fixtures against Denmark and Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League.

The defeat to La Real sees Barça's lead at the top of LaLiga cut to six points, while second-placed Real Madrid also have a game in hand. They return to action after the international break against Celta Vigo on Nov. 23.

- Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens